It has been globally acknowledged that energy storage will be a key element in the future for renewable energy (RE) systems. Recent studies about using energy storages for achieving high RE penetration have gained increased attention. This paper presents a detailed review on pumped hydro storage (PHS) based hybrid solar-wind power supply systems. It also discusses the present role of PHS, its total installed capacity, future research and technical challenges associated with the use of this storage in the context of RE based systems. This review paper considers the economical, environmental and technical aspects of solar-wind-PHS systems which have been discussed in the papers published over last 10 years. Additionally, studies are categorized with respect to objective, approach employed, location and key findings. Reflected from the literature, PHS technology has again emerged as a technologically and economically viable option. The integration of reversible pump turbine machines has increased the flexibility, response time and performance of PHS, however, hybridization of PHS with other storages can increase the range of services and overall system reliability, especially when RE systems are off-grid. This review will be useful for researchers to explore RE-based PHS systems in the fields of modelling and techno-economic optimization. Hybrid storage, like the PHS-battery, is an emerging option to supplement the weakness of each other and will be a promising field for future research. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.